1
00:00:00,634 --> 00:00:00,834
It's been a few months

2
00:00:00,901 --> 00:00:01,568
since we heard

3
00:00:01,635 --> 00:00:03,470
the student section

4
00:00:03,537 --> 00:00:05,205
chanting to fire the coach.

5
00:00:05,272 --> 00:00:06,106
What have you seen

6
00:00:06,173 --> 00:00:06,707
since then

7
00:00:06,773 --> 00:00:07,407
that gives you faith

8
00:00:07,474 --> 00:00:08,542
that the decision to keep

9
00:00:08,609 --> 00:00:09,610
the coach was the right one?

10
00:00:09,676 --> 00:00:11,378
Well, for one thing, we saw

11
00:00:11,445 --> 00:00:13,146
two pretty great victories

12
00:00:13,213 --> 00:00:14,515
after that moment

13
00:00:14,581 --> 00:00:16,250
against both Illinois

14
00:00:16,316 --> 00:00:17,384
and Washington.

15
00:00:17,451 --> 00:00:18,485
But more generally

16
00:00:18,552 --> 00:00:19,720
I think that while

17
00:00:19,786 --> 00:00:20,521
last season's

18
00:00:20,587 --> 00:00:21,755
football performance wasn't

19
00:00:21,822 --> 00:00:23,056
what any of us would

20
00:00:23,123 --> 00:00:25,025
wish for, and it's what

21
00:00:25,092 --> 00:00:26,126
we have to do better than that.

22
00:00:26,193 --> 00:00:27,628
There's no question about that.

23
00:00:27,694 --> 00:00:28,395
But I also think

24
00:00:28,462 --> 00:00:29,963
that what we've seen is that

25
00:00:30,030 --> 00:00:31,231
this team

26
00:00:31,298 --> 00:00:32,466
can pull together

27
00:00:32,533 --> 00:00:33,567
the resources

28
00:00:33,634 --> 00:00:34,535
the discipline

29
00:00:34,601 --> 00:00:36,036
and the know-how to help

30
00:00:36,103 --> 00:00:37,571
Badger football perform

31
00:00:37,638 --> 00:00:39,373
at the level that all of us

32
00:00:39,439 --> 00:00:40,974
rightly expect it to.

33
00:00:41,041 --> 00:00:42,176
There are fans out there

34
00:00:42,242 --> 00:00:42,743
that say, well

35
00:00:42,809 --> 00:00:43,477
one of the reasons

36
00:00:43,544 --> 00:00:44,711
that you kept Coach Fickell

37
00:00:44,778 --> 00:00:45,512
is because you are the one

38
00:00:45,579 --> 00:00:46,580
who hired him, and

39
00:00:46,647 --> 00:00:48,315
it would look awkward if you

40
00:00:48,382 --> 00:00:49,183
admitting a mistake

41
00:00:49,249 --> 00:00:50,050
to let him go.

42
00:00:50,117 --> 00:00:51,185
Is there any basis in that?

43
00:00:51,251 --> 00:00:52,719
No, I mean

44
00:00:52,786 --> 00:00:53,954
I understand and

45
00:00:54,021 --> 00:00:54,688
I appreciate

46
00:00:54,755 --> 00:00:56,056
the frustration of our fans.

47
00:00:56,123 --> 00:00:57,591
I share in it.

48
00:00:57,658 --> 00:00:59,326
But I think

49
00:00:59,927 --> 00:01:00,861
my job

50
00:01:00,928 --> 00:01:02,229
was to try to determine

51
00:01:02,296 --> 00:01:02,963
what it will take

52
00:01:03,030 --> 00:01:03,564
to move us forward

53
00:01:03,630 --> 00:01:04,698
and to be successful.

54
00:01:04,765 --> 00:01:06,433
And when we looked

55
00:01:07,134 --> 00:01:07,968
at every aspect

56
00:01:08,035 --> 00:01:09,236
of our program

57
00:01:09,303 --> 00:01:11,205
certainly with the leadership

58
00:01:11,271 --> 00:01:12,172
in our football program

59
00:01:12,239 --> 00:01:13,640
with Coach Fickell

60
00:01:13,707 --> 00:01:14,341
and we weighed

61
00:01:14,408 --> 00:01:15,442
that against what we need

62
00:01:15,509 --> 00:01:16,143
to be successful

63
00:01:16,210 --> 00:01:17,377
in the future

64
00:01:17,444 --> 00:01:18,078
we realized

65
00:01:18,145 --> 00:01:19,580
we have a great coach here.

66
00:01:19,646 --> 00:01:20,447
We need to do more

67
00:01:20,514 --> 00:01:22,049
to invest in the program.

68
00:01:22,115 --> 00:01:22,950
Like the chancellor said

69
00:01:23,016 --> 00:01:24,785
my goal is to position

70
00:01:24,852 --> 00:01:26,386
this program to be successful

71
00:01:26,453 --> 00:01:27,154
in the long run

72
00:01:27,221 --> 00:01:27,754
and there's no room

73
00:01:27,821 --> 00:01:29,489
for pride in that.